


strawberries and gin

by Clementessa



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII Remake (Video Game 2020)
Genre: Aerith Week 2021, Alcohol, Banter, Canon Universe, F/M, Light Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-07
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-12 08:40:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29257602
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Clementessa/pseuds/Clementessa
Summary: They get drunk on Aerith’s Birthday. It doesn't go as expected. A ficlet for Aerith Week.
Relationships: Aerith Gainsborough/Cloud Strife
Comments: 18
Kudos: 56





	strawberries and gin

**Author's Note:**

> Aerith Week Prompt: 02/07 – Happy Birthday Aerith!! - Hope our girl lives to celebrate many more birthdays post-Remake! 
> 
> I tried to write fluffy (because she deserves it), but out came angst. Oops! But I’m determined to keep trying to write fluff. Our girl deserves to get everything she wants and dammit, I aim to deliver. In the meantime, please enjoy this angsty offering.
> 
> Inspired by a scene in Crash Landing on You (SO good) and based on the theory that Aerith remembers the events of the OG.

They ended up alone and drunk in her hotel room on her birthday.

She remembered sitting next to Cloud on the floor, pressed shoulder to shoulder as they leaned against the bed. She was halfway into her bottle of gin while he nursed his whiskey-soda. He grimaced after each sip.

“Feeling fancy tonight?” she asked wryly.

He just blinked at her. “It’s not what I expected.”

Aerith grinned. Part of her wanted to make him something he’d _actually_ enjoy, something sweet and fizzy, but she was too content to stay in place. He was warm and solid and smelled of mint and fresh soap.

She gave him a loud sniff. “You smell good.”

He shook his head at her, amused. “I’ll send your compliments to the soap company.”

“Maybe I’ll steal some from you.” What she didn’t tell him was that his scent was comforting—it made her want to close her eyes and settle into the crook of his sturdy shoulders.

“I think there are other ways we can arrange to have you smell like me,” he replied.

“Excuse me?” She exclaimed, suddenly feeling hot. Luckily, it didn’t seem like she was the only one whose mind went _there._

The tips of his ears turned red hot; his eyes as wide as saucers. “Uh—I mean, I can just give you some…for your birthday…if you want.”

Aerith laughed, brushing his burning ears with her fingers. “You’re so cute, you know.” He always was, even in their last life. She liked him most when he was shy and off-balance, like she was seeing the real Cloud, cotton soft and honey sweet.

He blinked at her, almost shy. “I…”

“Don’t worry, Mr. Tough Guy, I’ll swear myself to secrecy,” she teased and mimed zipping her lips closed.

He shook his head. “That’s not what I was going to say.”

She tilted her head, surprised.

He searched her expression. She thought his eyes flickered down to her lips, but it happened so quickly, it was probably just her imagination. He shook his head again, this time more bewildered than anything. “You…You’re just…”

“Crazy? Silly? Stupid?”

“No.”

She thought hard, tapping a finger against her cheek. “Hilarious? A pain in the ass? Best healer on the planet?”

Cloud scoffed, growing frustrated. “None of the above.”

“Don’t be shy,” she encouraged, downing a shot of gin. “I’m so drunk, I probably won’t remember it anyway.” And, dammit, she earned it. It was her last birthday—the last hurrah before her untimely demise. She had no doubt she’d be barfing her brains out tomorrow morning, but at least she had a tomorrow.

“You won’t, huh?” Then he stared grimly at the bottom of his half-empty glass.

“Nope! I’m celebrating in style!” She chirped happily, filling her shot glass, and spilling on the blue threadbare carpet. “Whoops!”

“Good.”

There was something about the way he said it that caught her attention, suddenly serious. She gave him a sidelong look. “What?”

“You’re a whirlwind. You turn everything upside down.” Cloud looked at her like she was unfathomable. “You turn me upside down.”

She blinked at him, too astonished to say anything.

“You remember it, don’t you?” He took a deep breath. “Our last life.”

Her stomach lurched. “What are you talking about?

“Please. You’re not _that_ drunk.”

She winced and knocked back her shot, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, her cheeks and throat ablaze. She barely tasted it.

“I wish you told me,” he said.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Aerith insisted. But the words rang hollow even to her ears. She poured herself another shot and tossed it back.

Cloud looked at her long and hard, searching her eyes for what he knew was there. “I want to save you this time.”

Aerith tore her gaze away from him and stared stubbornly at the damp spot on the carpet. She took a swig right out of the bottle, abandoning her shot glass altogether.

“I want to marry you.”

It hurt, like walking on glass, each word another shard, slicing deeper and deeper.

“I want our kids to look like you.”

She tightened her grip on the bottle, her heart pounding in her ears. He sounded so earnest, so confident, so sure. She finally extinguished all hope of a future for herself and there he went, rekindling it. It wasn’t fair.

“I want to see you when you’re old and grey.”

Finally, Aerith closed her eyes, the burn of gin fresh on her tongue. “Well, you’ll be waiting a long time, Cloud.”

“I _have_ waited.” He cupped her cheek and swept his calloused thumb across, making her shiver, pulling her attention back to him. There was no mistaking it now, the way his gaze dipped down to her lips. “And I still want you.”

She was dazed by his closeness, his scent, the fire of his touch. _I want this,_ she thought to herself, inhaling the heady sting of whiskey on his breath. _Just once._ What was the harm when it would be forgotten tomorrow?

Maybe that’s why she leaned in, drawn to the one thing that would hurt her the most.

His kiss was everything she dreamt it would be.

The worst part though?

In the end, she remembered it all.


End file.
